Invasion targeting

[srmalloy]

I've noticed that, during invasion events -- Rikti, Nemesis, mapserver, zombies -- there are endemic issues with attacking the mobs. A mob teleporting into the scrum is targetable, often even before the mob appears in the zone, for several seconds before it is attackable. This results in your character (particularly with melee-based characters) running up to an empty spot on the map with an attack queued up and just standing there until the mob that they've targeted appears, then waiting more until it becomes attackable and their queued attack goes off. Compounding this issue is the fact that some mobs that are targetable, and show the teleporting-in animation, despawn before ever becoming attackable, resulting in characters standing around looking like idiots, unable to contribute to the invasion defense until the server decides that a particular mob is attackable. This gets worse as the lag from the invasion climbs

 

If it's possible to make the change simply, I suggest that targeting hostile mobs teleporting into a raid situation be changed so that you can't target a mob until it's attackable, even if it's visible in the zone. As it is, mobs can spawn into an invasion scrum, fire off one or two attacks, and then despawn before the PCs in the scrum can attack them.

[Triumphant]

I've experienced this, but I just put it down to personal lag, thanks to my crappy internet.  Does everyone else experience this, as well?  Just curious.  I have a rough time with leagues, in general, so I tend to stick with standard 8-man team play.  Also, if I'm to be honest, I guess I find leagues pretty boring, besides.

 

You know, I've got no idea where I was going with this reply.  I think I need a nap.  🤷‍♂️

[didraedimus]

I have experienced this as well.  I always assumed that when my target disappeared, that someone else had defeated it before I could attack.  The mayhem would be much more enjoyable if my attacks could fire consistently.  I realize that I know very little about programming, so I can't even imagine what this change would require.

[srmalloy]

39 minutes ago, didraedimus said:

I realize that I know very little about programming, so I can't even imagine what this change would require.

The problem of changing it is complicated by the render limit built into the game engine, which (as far as I know) prioritizes nearby targets, so you could move your character and see mobs appear and disappear as the 'closest' mobs change; I noticed this in a Nemesis invasion this afternoon, where my Brute jumped away from the scrum of PCs and Nemesis fighting jammed together and had eight more Nemesis render out of nowhere as the 'nearest mobs' list changed. Dealing with the limitations of the game engine is likely to be one of the biggest obstacles to making this work.

[Clave Dark 5]

46 minutes ago, didraedimus said:

I have experienced this as well.  I always assumed that when my target disappeared, that someone else had defeated it before I could attack.  The mayhem would be much more enjoyable if my attacks could fire consistently.  I realize that I know very little about programming, so I can't even imagine what this change would require.

Oh yeah, this is a well known thing. When I join a group I usually remind folks in chat to target thru a pet (anyone's pet).

[Rudra]

8 minutes ago, srmalloy said:

The problem of changing it is complicated by the render limit built into the game engine, which (as far as I know) prioritizes nearby targets, so you could move your character and see mobs appear and disappear as the 'closest' mobs change; I noticed this in a Nemesis invasion this afternoon, where my Brute jumped away from the scrum of PCs and Nemesis fighting jammed together and had eight more Nemesis render out of nowhere as the 'nearest mobs' list changed. Dealing with the limitations of the game engine is likely to be one of the biggest obstacles to making this work.

If I remember correctly, this was implemented because the Tyrant solo mission where he fights a massive Arachnos force just before the Magisterium iTrial was breaking people's computers and not running because of all the mobs the game was trying to render, and the computers not being able to process it.

[srmalloy]

15 hours ago, Rudra said:

If I remember correctly, this was implemented because the Tyrant solo mission where he fights a massive Arachnos force just before the Magisterium iTrial was breaking people's computers and not running because of all the mobs the game was trying to render, and the computers not being able to process it.

Having the game decide what you want to see, however, can shaft some players, particularly melee. If there was an option to prioritize rendering for a) friendlies, b) hostiles, or c) default would be better, and having the rendering algorithm tweaked so that if you have a mob targeted and have attacked/shot at it within the last, say, five seconds, then it is automatically rendered regardless of the rendering althorithm's choice of mobs to render (so your Tank/Brute/Scrapper won't be pounding on a target that the game decides is "too far away" and vanishes, or when the target you're still shooting at vanishes -- most often during MSRs when more Rikti teleport into the bowl and force the game engine to reassign which mobs are 'visible'.